McAuliffe Middle School Charms Office Assistant Reference Handbook

McAuliffe Middle School Charms Office Assistant Reference Handbook McAuliffe Middle School 4112 Cerritos Avenue, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 (714) 816-3320 1

Charms Office Assistant (CHARMS) Charms Office Assistant (we refer to it as CHARMS) is a software tool and internet portal that provides one-stop access to everything that parents and students need to know about choir. CHARMS is designed by a former high school band teacher. He designed it because he wanted to provide a way to provide information to all of his students and parents. He wanted to provide an internet portal that effectively answered every question about fundraising, budgets, calendars, dress sizes, costume check-out, etc. His team is constantly improving the software and we are constantly learning that, CHARMS does that too! CHARMS will be used for the following: Student Information Student Costuming Sizes Student Costume Check-in and Check-out Adults Affiliated with Students Adult Volunteer Schedules and Rosters Classroom Handouts Choir Calendar Student Financials Fundraiser Tracking Ticket Purchasing Spirit Purchasing The more information students and parents provide directly into that system, the more successful the McAuliffe Choir program will be! It is extremely important that all parents and students take the time (and it really isn t much time), to explore CHARMS. A separate handout called the Charms Office Assistant Reference Handbook has been created. This handbook should help everyone move past those initial issues with new websites and new software. The Charms Office Assistant Reference Handbook is divided into parts: Part 1: Initial Login (Pages 3-4) Part 2: Update Student and Adult Information (Pages 5-7) Part 3: Adult Volunteer Schedules and Rosters (Pages 8-9) Part 4: Classroom Handouts (Pages 10-11) Part 5: Choir Calendar (Pages 12-13) Part 6: Student Financials and Fundraiser Tracking (Pages 14-18) Part 7: Ticket Purchasing (Page 19) Part 8: Spirit Purchasing (Page 20) Part 9: Mobile Platforms (Page 21) The Charms Office Assistant Reference Handbook is available at CHARMS or directly from the Choir Director. 2

Part 1: Initial Login 1) We strongly recommend that all initial login attempts are completed on a desktop or laptop computer. More information on mobile platforms is available later. Go to https://www.charmsoffice.com/ on a computer and select Parents/Students/Members : 2) Enter school code MCAULIFFECHOIR and click Enter Charms : 3) The Student Area Password is the student s 10-Digit Student ID Number (beginning with 119) found on your child s McAuliffe Middle School ID card, report card, and class schedule. 3

4) These steps will bring up the homepage of CHARMS: 4

Part 2: Update Student and Adult Information 1) From the homepage of CHARMS: select Update Info : 5

2) Your student s information will appear. Please make sure that it is correct and update it if it is not. Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the page. Please be sure to enter the student s clothing sizes as well. 3) Additionally, at the bottom of the page, you will see the adults that match the student. Add new adults and/or update the existing adults. 6

4) Complete the fields related to the student s adults. Be sure to select your cell phone s carrier to receive text messages (your text messaging rates apply) regarding important choir annoucements and reminders. 5) If you have multiple students, you may wish to link them together using Multiple Students from the home area. 7

Part 3: Adult Volunteer Schedules and Rosters 1) From the homepage of CHARMS: select Volunteer : 2) All of the volunteer needs will appear when selecting Show Volunteer Needs. 8

3) Complete the information requested and sign up. Be sure to select your cell phone s carrier to receive text messages (your text messaging rates apply) regarding the vounteer opportunity. 9

Part 4: Classroom Handouts 1) From the homepage of CHARMS: select Handouts & Files : 10

2) All of the handouts and files are available for downloading and printing here. 11

Part 5: Choir Calendar 1) From the homepage of CHARMS: select Calendar : 12

2) The student s calendar is available for viewing here. Only information relating to the specific student will appear on this calendar. Adults may also volunteer from this screen as well. 13

Part 6: Student Financials and Fundraiser Tracking 1) From the homepage of CHARMS: select Finances : 14

2) Everything related to student financial including donation options, trips, and fundraising is available on this screen. Donation options may be made using the Pay Fixed Payments button after sliding the AffiniPay slider to the left (enabling credit card payments). 15

3) After selecting the Pay Fixed Payments button, the credit card screen will appear. Be sure to slide the AffiniPay slider to the left before selecting the Pay Fixed Payments button. Complete the payment information and select Start Payment. All payments are credited directly to the student s account. 16

4) Trips are also available (when they are assigned) on the Finances screen. Select the correct trip from the drop down menu and then select Make Trip Payment. 17

5) Complete the payment information and select Start Payment. All payments are credited directly to the student s account. 6) Information on individual fundraising activities, payments, and results will also be available on the Finances screen as this information becomes available. 18

Part 7: Ticket Purchasing 1) From the homepage of CHARMS: select Ludus Tickets : 2) Select and purchase tickets just like any other online ticketing source. 19

Part 8: Spirit Purchasing 1) From the homepage of CHARMS: select Online Store : 2) Select the items desired and complete the order just like any other online store. 20

Part 9: Mobile Platforms 1) Much (not all) of the same information can be accessed via your mobile device. The screens are similar; however, some functions like payment by credit card are only available via your computer. For Apple devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/charms-parent-studentportal/id624145958?mt=8 For Android devices: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.charmsoffice.mobilestudio &hl=en 21